A Finite Element Analysis For The Least Temperature Rise in A Hot Torsion Test Specimen
A Finite Element Analysis For The Least Temperature Rise in A Hot Torsion Test Specimen
A Finite Element Analysis For The Least Temperature Rise in A Hot Torsion Test Specimen
Abstract
The temperature distribution in a hot torsion specimen, caused by plastic deformation, is predicted by a finite element
analysis with the aim of obtaining an optimum specimen geometry that would produce the least heat accumulation
during twisting so as to avoid the possible flow localization and to facilitate the interpretation of the data obtained. The
prediction of temperature rise is made for an aluminium alloy 5252 for different twist rate, initial temperature and
specimen geometry, from which a procedure for the least heat generation is suggested. The constitutive equations are
modified for the unavoidable temperature rise and the predictions so obtained are compared with the experimental
data. ( 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Finite element analysis; Temperature rise; Hot torsion testing; Flow softening; Aluminium alloys
1. Introduction
In the modelling of hot metal forming processes such as extrusion of aluminium alloys, hot
torsion testing can be used in generating the data of flow stress to large strains to validate the
constitutive equations used. However, heat may be generated during testing due to large plastic
flow which may not be able to dissipate away in a time required to achieve the given deformation.
As a result, temperature may rise and distributions may become inhomogeneous, which may
induce flow localization and softening [1]. The interpretation of the data obtained may also be
affected because the excessive heat generation intensifies flow softening.
The deformation behavior of aluminium alloys at hot working temperatures is primarily
characterized by dynamic recovery [2,3]. A steady state or saturated flow stress is obtained as
a result of the annihilation of pairs of dislocations and the development of an equiaxed subgrain
M. Zhou, M.P. Clode / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 31 (1998) 114
structure. However, during hot torsion testing, the flow stress curve can also be observed to decline
after its peak value has been obtained. This flow softening has been attributed to the internal heat
generation due to large plastic deformation [4]. To simplify the analysis, isothermal or adiabatic
assumptions may be adopted, but these assumptions are only valid, respectively, for very low or
very high deformation rate [5,6]. In the analysis related to flow stresses over a strain rate range
where conditions are neither isothermal nor adiabatic, the omission of temperature changes can
invalidate the derived constitutive equations.
Temperature changes during torsion testing depend on the twist rate applied, initial temperature, angle of twist, and the geometry of specimen. The geometry of specimen, such as the
diameter and length of the specimen gauge and head, has evolved based primarily on experience
and test machine limitations. Inappropriate design of the test specimen may lead to a high
accumulation of heat, caused by large plastic deformation, in the central region of the specimen
gauge length.
The variation of temperature distribution with the initial temperature, twist rate and the
geometry of specimen due to plastic deformation is investigated in this paper by a finite element
analysis with the aim of obtaining an optimum specimen geometry that would produce the least
heat accumulation during twisting. The finite element model is formulated for the twisting
specimen which is heated by an induction coil and controlled by a thermocouple. Account is taken
of the temperature rise from plastic deformation and the consequential heat transfer by conduction
to the non-deforming specimen ends and by convection and radiation to the environment. The
predictions of the temperature rise for an aluminium alloy 5252 are discussed. An optimization
procedure for the specimen geometry is suggested based on the consideration of stiffness requirement and the least heat generation. The constitutive equations are modified for the unavoidable
temperature rise and the predictions of the stressstrain curves so obtained are compared with the
data of aluminium alloy 5252.
A BA B
D 4
'
) "j,
D
)
'
(1)
M. Zhou, M.P. Clode / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 31 (1998) 114
Fig. 2. (a) A model of finite element analysis for heat conduction and (b) the distribution of initial temperatures.
where k and k are the torsional spring rates [7] for the gauge and head of the specimen,
'
)
respectively, and j is a ratio less than 1.0 indicating a smaller torsional spring stiffness in the gauge
than in the head.
As the constraints of specimen ends and temperature environment are symmetric with respect to
its centroidal axis, it is assumed that the heat conduction in the specimen is independent of the
circumferential angle of twist and can therefore be simplified by a 2D idealization. The resulting
model is shown in Fig. 2a where only one-quarter of a longitudinal section is considered because of
its mirror symmetry with respect to r- and z- axis.
M. Zhou, M.P. Clode / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 31 (1998) 114
The axisymmetric conditions imply that heat flux along the boundaries S and S are zero,
1
2
or insulated. As the boundary S is directly heated by the induction coil which is controlled by
3
a thermocouple marked as S in Fig. 1, a temperature that is not lower than the initial temperature
is maintained throughout the specimen. The boundary S is exposed to the surrounding environ4
ment where the energy loss is considered through both boundary convection and radiation.
Fig. 2b shows the distribution of the initial temperature where the temperature at the boundary S is prescribed as and the region covered by the induction coil has an initial temperature
5
B
of .
i
3. FEA formulation for heat conduction
The equations governing the heat conduction of the specimen, as modelled in Fig. 2a, may be
derived from the following functional:
PP C A B A B
A
B D
P C A
A
BD
P"2n
1
L 2 1
L 2
k
# k
2
Lr
2
Lz
! q!oc
#e p
B B
Lt
5
!4
r
5
r dr dz#2n
S3,S4
h
B
2
!
aB
2
r ds,
(2)
L
"0 on S
1
Lr
and
L
"0 on S .
2
Lz
(3)
M. Zhou, M.P. Clode / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 31 (1998) 114
assumption results in the following linear shear strain and shear strain rate in terms of radius
coordinate r,
r
c" h and
'
r
cR " hQ
'
(5)
where is the gauge length of the specimen, h and hQ are angle of twist and twist rate, respectively.
'
In the calculation of the plastic work shown in Eq. (4), a constitutive equation that relates stress,
strain, strain rate and temperature is required. For aluminium alloys, the material behavior at hot
working temperatures is characterized by competing hardening and recovery processes [2,3]. The
constitutive model developed by Zhou and Clode [9] may be used to describe the high-temperature deformation properties which exhibit a saturated stress response to large deformation as
a result of dynamic recovery. In uniaxial case, the model can be expressed as,
A BD
mQ
R
(6)
where is the temperature, R is the universal gas constant and Q is the activation energy. The
material constants, C, B, m and Q, are determined by the saturated flow stresses for different strain
rate and temperatures. The two parameters which are strain rate and temperature dependent, b and
n, are defined as
BD
BD
bQ
b"a eR ~bb exp ! b
b
R
(7a)
and
bQ
n"a eR ~bn exp ! n
n
R
(7b)
(8)
where M is torque, h is angle of twist and hQ is twist rate. Thus, the material constants in Eqs. (6), (7a)
and (7b) can be determined by the measurements of torque as a function of twist, twist rate and
temperature [9].
Considering the conditions for stationary value of the functional in Eq. (2) gives the heat
conduction governing equations as
A B A B
1 L
L
L
L
L
rk
#
k
#cwR "oc
1
r Lr
Lr
Lz
Lz
Lt
(9)
M. Zhou, M.P. Clode / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 31 (1998) 114
L
L
! k
n #k
n "h (! )#e p (4#4) on S and S ,
B
aB
B B
r
3
4
Lr r
Lz z
(10)
where n and n are the direction cosine of the unit outward normal to the boundaries S and S .
r
z
3
4
Eq. (9) represents the energy balance between heat conduction in the specimen along r and
z directions, internal heat source produced by plastic flow and the time related transient term.
Eq. (10) implies that heat convection and radiation only occur on the boundaries S and S and the
3
4
furnace acts as a blackbody regardless of the emissivity of its surface. If the heat conduction terms
are not considered, Eq. (9) becomes
L
cwR "oc
1
Lt
(11)
which is a locally adiabatic process [5] and is equivalent to the deformation process at high strain
rate. The temperature rise at high deformation rate may therefore be estimated by
c eL
pN (eN , eNR , ) deN ,
(12)
D(eL , eNR , )"
oc
0
where the effective strain eL indicates the deformation dependence of temperature rise and pN (eN , eNR , )
describes the dependence of the effective stress on strain, strain rate and temperature.
Temperature changes during plastic deformation which as a function of the coordinates r and
z may be approximated by a function of the Lagrangian type at an element level as
+M ,Na% on element A%
(13)
where N"MN , N , N , N N is the shape functions defined for 4-node isoparametric elements [10],
1 2 3 4
and (a%)T"M , , , N is the nodal temperature of the element.
1 2 3 4
The approximation assumed in Eq. (13) is substituted into Eq. (2) and the following FE model
on the element level can be obtained by considering the stationary condition:
H%aR %#K%a%"f %,
(14)
where aR % is the time differentiation of a%, H% and K% are, respectively, the element capacitance and
conductance matrixes defined by
PP
PP C A B
P
ocNTNr dr dz,
A%
LN
LNT
LN
LNT
k
#
k
Lr
Lz
Lz
Lr
A%
H e"2n
K%"2n
A BD
(15a)
r dr dz
[h NTN#e p NTN(Na%)3] r ds
B
B B
S%3, S%4
and the nodal force vector on the right-hand side is defined by
#2n
PP
f %"2n
%
3
S ,S
%
4
[h NT #e p 4NT]r ds.
B
aB
B B r
(15b)
(15c)
M. Zhou, M.P. Clode / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 31 (1998) 114
The resulting assembly matrix equation, HaR #Ka"F, is nonlinear in terms of the assembly nodal
temperatures a, which may be solved by the following iteration format:
HaR #K(a )a "F (i"1, 2,2),
(16)
i
i~1 i
i
where a (i"1) is the initial nodal temperature of the specimen.
0
Time integration has to be carried out for the time history of nodal temperatures, which may be
obtained from the format given as follows:
[H#bDtK(a )]a "[H!(1!b)DtK(a )]a
i~1 i
i~1 i~1
#[(1!b)F #bF ]Dt (0)b)1).
(17)
i~1
i
The integration time increment must be constrained to ensure that the computation is stable and
accurate, which may be derived by the second law of thermodynamics in the calculation of heat
conduction [11] and given as
oc(Dx)2
DtK
,
4k
(18)
M. Zhou, M.P. Clode / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 31 (1998) 114
Fig. 3. Temperature distribution in a rod with a uniform heat source and heated at one end (z"0) and insulated at the
other (z").
Fig. 4. Comparison of temperature rise for isothermal, adiabatic and non-isothermal conditions on the central cross
section of the specimen (z"0).
similar distribution of shear stress along the radius axis. The lines with light square show the
results for non-isothermal condition which consider heat transfer to the regions of lower temperature and to the non-deforming specimen heads. It is shown that temperature gradient tends to
decline and temperature distribution tends to be uniform along the radius axis as a result of heat
conduction.
M. Zhou, M.P. Clode / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 31 (1998) 114
The contour of the temperature rise in the gauge length of the specimen is shown in Fig. 5a and
b which is subjected to a high twist rate of 15.0 rev s~1 and a low twist rate of 1.4 rev s~1,
respectively. In these figures, the gauge axis is referred to the centroidal axis of the specimen
indicated by r"0. It is found that the maximum temperature rise occurs on the surface of the
central cross section because heat generation accumulates near the symmetric axis z"0 and the
maximum deformation occurs on the surface. These results are more prominent for high deformation rate which may become one of the dominant factors for local flow softening of materials.
The above demonstration has shown that temperature varies significantly along the specimen
axis at high twist rate and the maximum temperature rise occurs in the central cross section of the
specimen. Local flow softening of materials may occur if the excessive heat accumulates around
that region. It was also shown that temperature rise is not significant at low strain rate. For
example, a maximum temperature rise of 1C is produced for twist rates less than 0.16 rev s~1. The
reason for this is that slow twisting allows sufficient time for heat dissipating through conduction
from the deformable gauge length to the rigid head and through convection and radiation from the
specimen boundaries to the environment. It is therefore reasonable to adopt an isothermal
assumption in the analysis.
10
M. Zhou, M.P. Clode / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 31 (1998) 114
Fig. 5. The contour of temperature rise in the gauge length of the specimen at 15.0 rev s~1 (a) and 1.4 rev s~1 (b).
M. Zhou, M.P. Clode / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 31 (1998) 114
11
Fig. 6. Temperature rise along the specimen axis (r"0) with gauge diameter fixed and gauge length varied.
Fig. 7. Temperature rise along the specimen axis (r"0) with gauge length fixed and gauge diameter varied.
(b) The temperature distribution is estimated for the parameters chosen in Step (a). If the
temperature rise predicted is too high, which may result in flow localization at high rate of
twisting, the parameters of , and D are modified based on the conclusions obtained on the
) '
'
variations of temperature rise with the gauge length and gauge diameter.
12
M. Zhou, M.P. Clode / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 31 (1998) 114
2 L'@2
( , hQ , h)"
(r , z; , hQ , h) dz
(19)
% 0
%&
0
0
where (r , z; , hQ , h) is the temperature distribution at the effective radius which is a function of
%&
0
initial temperature, twist rate, twist and the specimen geometry and predicted by the FE model in
this paper.
The constitutive equations in Eqs. (6), (7a) and (7b) are then modified by replacing the temperature term with the average effective radius temperature . Fig. 8 shows the predictions of the
%
stress-strain curves of aluminium alloy 5252 at an initial temperature of 500C and at twist rates of
15.0, 5.0, 1.4, 0.16 and 0.015 rev s~1. The corresponding effective strain rates at the effective radius
Fig. 8. The predicted stressstrain curves of aluminium alloy 5252, as indicated by solid lines, in which temperature rise
has been considered.
M. Zhou, M.P. Clode / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 31 (1998) 114
13
are evaluated from Eq. (8) to be 19.70, 6.44, 1.84, 0.21, and 0.02 rad s~1, respectively. The broken
lines represent the predictions that do not include the effects of temperature rise and the solid lines
are those modified by incorporating the average effective radius temperature. It is shown that
a reasonable prediction of flow stress as a function of strain, strain rate, and instantaneous
temperature has been obtained.
7. Conclusions
As inappropriate design of the test specimen in hot torsion testing may lead to a high
accumulation of heat in the central region of the specimen gauge length, flow localization may
occur and the interpretation of the test data may be affected. To avoid this, knowledge of the
variation of temperature rise due to plastic deformation over the specimen gauge length for
different specimen geometry and loading conditions is necessary. It is also necessary to estimate the
distribution of temperature rise in the event that heat generation is inevitable so that the
constitutive equations used are modified accordingly.
A heat conduction model to predict by finite element analysis the temperature rise during plastic
deformation in hot torsion testing has been discussed. The predictions of temperature changes in
an aluminium alloy 5252 consider the effects of deformation, deformation rate and initial temperature. The effects of specimen geometry on temperature rise caused by the plastic work have also
been investigated.
It has been shown that, at low twist rate and therefore low effective strain rate, temperature rise is
small and temperature distribution tends to be uniform. It is largely governed by twist rate, initial
temperature and angle of twist. The specimen geometry has little effect. At high initial temperature,
the temperature rise and its gradient tend to decline, even at high twist rate. However, at high twist
rate and low initial temperature, the effects of the specimen geometry are significant. An increase in
the gauge length and a decrease in the gauge diameter increase temperature rise. An optimum
geometry procedure may be followed which considers compatibility between the stiffness and the
least temperature rise requirement.
Though the specimen may have been designed with the criterion of the least temperature rise,
heat generation, more or less, is still inevitable. The constitutive equations have to be modified
accordingly. The predictions of the stressstrain curves of aluminium alloy 5252 made by the
modified constitutive equations have been shown to be in a good agreement with the data.
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